Viper’s Bugloss is one of our most impressive and long-flowering wild flowers of wasteland and seashore. This flowers for months at a stretch, is happy in sun or light shade and is always teeming with Burnet Moths and pollinator insects.
Standing tall and upright, it is the perfect backdrop to almost any other wild flower. It looks spectacular, but it is unpopular with some farmers as one plant can generate a swathe the following year.
– See more at: http://www.sarahraven.com/shop/viper-s-bugloss.html#sthash.ISyGzDxn.dpuf
Viper’s Bugloss is one of our most impressive and long-flowering wild flowers of wasteland and seashore. This flowers for months at a stretch, is happy in sun or light shade and is always teeming with Burnet Moths and pollinator insects.
Standing tall and upright, it is the perfect backdrop to almost any other wild flower. It looks spectacular, but it is unpopular with some farmers as one plant can generate a swathe the following year.
– See more at: http://www.sarahraven.com/shop/viper-s-bugloss.html#sthash.ISyGzDxn.dpuf
Viper’s Bugloss (Echium vulgare) is sometimes known as Blueweed, is a hairy stemed plant, with narrow thin leaves, that is mainly found on chalk or sandy soils. Viper’s Bugloss has dense spikes of bright blue, funnel shaped flowers that grow in thick clusters.This plant helps to provide food for a range of insects, such as Red-Tailed Bumblebees, Painted Lady Butterflies and Honey Bees.
Viper’s Bugloss can reach a height of 80cm, it has a hairy stem and leaves which feel rough to touch. The flower, when it begins growing, starts off pink but as it blooms it produces that vivid blue colour. The flower is typically 15 – 20 mm in a tall spike, even the pollen of this flower is blue, while the filaments are red, helping to contrast the colour against the blue of the flower.
Height: 30 – 80cm
Flowering Time: June to September
Preferred Conditions: This plant prefers free draining soil and disturbed land. It will often be found on bare, down land and heaths.
